diff --git a/axum-extra/CHANGELOG.md b/axum-extra/CHANGELOG.md
index b81268f9..405876e9 100644
--- a/axum-extra/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/axum-extra/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -7,7 +7,9 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 
 # Unreleased
 
-- None.
+- Add `middleware::from_fn` for creating middleware from async functions ([#656])
+
+[#656]: https://github.com/tokio-rs/axum/pull/656
 
 # 0.1.0 (02. December, 2021)
 
diff --git a/axum-extra/Cargo.toml b/axum-extra/Cargo.toml
index 046cfe37..a35eb859 100644
--- a/axum-extra/Cargo.toml
+++ b/axum-extra/Cargo.toml
@@ -17,6 +17,10 @@ erased-json = ["serde", "serde_json"]
 axum = { path = "../axum", version = "0.4" }
 http = "0.2"
 mime = "0.3"
+pin-project-lite = "0.2"
+tower = { version = "0.4", features = ["util"] }
+tower-http = { version = "0.2", features = ["util", "map-response-body"] }
+tower-layer = "0.3"
 tower-service = "0.3"
 
 # optional dependencies
diff --git a/axum-extra/src/lib.rs b/axum-extra/src/lib.rs
index bb16461f..daf0a8d5 100644
--- a/axum-extra/src/lib.rs
+++ b/axum-extra/src/lib.rs
@@ -44,5 +44,6 @@
 #![cfg_attr(test, allow(clippy::float_cmp))]
 
 pub mod extract;
+pub mod middleware;
 pub mod response;
 pub mod routing;
diff --git a/axum-extra/src/middleware/middleware_fn.rs b/axum-extra/src/middleware/middleware_fn.rs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..2bb9cb8a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/axum-extra/src/middleware/middleware_fn.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,240 @@
+//! Create middleware from async functions.
+//!
+//! See [`from_fn`] for more details.
+
+use axum::{
+    body::{self, Bytes, HttpBody},
+    response::{IntoResponse, Response},
+    BoxError,
+};
+use http::Request;
+use pin_project_lite::pin_project;
+use std::{
+    any::type_name,
+    convert::Infallible,
+    fmt,
+    future::Future,
+    pin::Pin,
+    task::{Context, Poll},
+};
+use tower::{util::BoxCloneService, ServiceBuilder};
+use tower_http::ServiceBuilderExt;
+use tower_layer::Layer;
+use tower_service::Service;
+
+/// Create a middleware from an async function.
+///
+/// `from_fn` requires the function given to
+///
+/// 1. Be an `async fn`.
+/// 2. Take [`Request`](http::Request) as the first argument.
+/// 3. Take [`Next<B>`](Next) as the second argument.
+/// 4. Return something that implements [`IntoResponse`].
+///
+/// # Example
+///
+/// ```rust
+/// use axum::{
+///     Router,
+///     http::{Request, StatusCode},
+///     routing::get,
+///     response::IntoResponse,
+/// };
+/// use axum_extra::middleware::{self, Next};
+///
+/// async fn auth<B>(req: Request<B>, next: Next<B>) -> impl IntoResponse {
+///     let auth_header = req.headers().get(http::header::AUTHORIZATION);
+///
+///     match auth_header {
+///         Some(auth_header) if auth_header == "secret" => {
+///             Ok(next.run(req).await)
+///         }
+///         _ => Err(StatusCode::UNAUTHORIZED),
+///     }
+/// }
+///
+/// let app = Router::new()
+///     .route("/", get(|| async { /* ... */ }))
+///     .route_layer(middleware::from_fn(auth));
+/// # let app: Router = app;
+/// ```
+pub fn from_fn<F>(f: F) -> MiddlewareFnLayer<F> {
+    MiddlewareFnLayer { f }
+}
+
+/// A [`tower::Layer`] from an async function.
+///
+/// [`tower::Layer`] is used to apply middleware to [`axum::Router`]s.
+///
+/// Created with [`from_fn`]. See that function for more details.
+#[derive(Clone, Copy)]
+pub struct MiddlewareFnLayer<F> {
+    f: F,
+}
+
+impl<S, F> Layer<S> for MiddlewareFnLayer<F>
+where
+    F: Clone,
+{
+    type Service = MiddlewareFn<F, S>;
+
+    fn layer(&self, inner: S) -> Self::Service {
+        MiddlewareFn {
+            f: self.f.clone(),
+            inner,
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+impl<F> fmt::Debug for MiddlewareFnLayer<F> {
+    fn fmt(&self, f: &mut fmt::Formatter<'_>) -> fmt::Result {
+        f.debug_struct("MiddlewareFnLayer")
+            // Write out the type name, without quoting it as `&type_name::<F>()` would
+            .field("f", &format_args!("{}", type_name::<F>()))
+            .finish()
+    }
+}
+
+/// A middleware created from an async function.
+///
+/// Created with [`from_fn`]. See that function for more details.
+#[derive(Clone, Copy)]
+pub struct MiddlewareFn<F, S> {
+    f: F,
+    inner: S,
+}
+
+impl<F, Fut, Out, S, ReqBody, ResBody> Service<Request<ReqBody>> for MiddlewareFn<F, S>
+where
+    F: FnMut(Request<ReqBody>, Next<ReqBody>) -> Fut,
+    Fut: Future<Output = Out>,
+    Out: IntoResponse,
+    S: Service<Request<ReqBody>, Response = Response<ResBody>, Error = Infallible>
+        + Clone
+        + Send
+        + 'static,
+    S::Future: Send + 'static,
+    ResBody: HttpBody<Data = Bytes> + Send + 'static,
+    ResBody::Error: Into<BoxError>,
+{
+    type Response = Response;
+    type Error = Infallible;
+    type Future = ResponseFuture<Fut>;
+
+    fn poll_ready(&mut self, cx: &mut Context<'_>) -> Poll<Result<(), Self::Error>> {
+        self.inner.poll_ready(cx)
+    }
+
+    fn call(&mut self, req: Request<ReqBody>) -> Self::Future {
+        let not_ready_inner = self.inner.clone();
+        let ready_inner = std::mem::replace(&mut self.inner, not_ready_inner);
+
+        let inner = ServiceBuilder::new()
+            .boxed_clone()
+            .map_response_body(body::boxed)
+            .service(ready_inner);
+        let next = Next { inner };
+
+        ResponseFuture {
+            inner: (self.f)(req, next),
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+impl<F, S> fmt::Debug for MiddlewareFn<F, S>
+where
+    S: fmt::Debug,
+{
+    fn fmt(&self, f: &mut fmt::Formatter<'_>) -> fmt::Result {
+        f.debug_struct("MiddlewareFnLayer")
+            .field("f", &format_args!("{}", type_name::<F>()))
+            .field("inner", &self.inner)
+            .finish()
+    }
+}
+
+/// The remainder of a middleware stack, including the handler.
+pub struct Next<ReqBody> {
+    inner: BoxCloneService<Request<ReqBody>, Response, Infallible>,
+}
+
+impl<ReqBody> Next<ReqBody> {
+    /// Execute the remaining middleware stack.
+    pub async fn run(mut self, req: Request<ReqBody>) -> Response {
+        match self.inner.call(req).await {
+            Ok(res) => res,
+            Err(err) => match err {},
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+impl<ReqBody> fmt::Debug for Next<ReqBody> {
+    fn fmt(&self, f: &mut fmt::Formatter<'_>) -> fmt::Result {
+        f.debug_struct("MiddlewareFnLayer")
+            .field("inner", &self.inner)
+            .finish()
+    }
+}
+
+pin_project! {
+    /// Response future for [`MiddlewareFn`].
+    pub struct ResponseFuture<F> {
+        #[pin]
+        inner: F,
+    }
+}
+
+impl<F, Out> Future for ResponseFuture<F>
+where
+    F: Future<Output = Out>,
+    Out: IntoResponse,
+{
+    type Output = Result<Response, Infallible>;
+
+    fn poll(self: Pin<&mut Self>, cx: &mut Context<'_>) -> Poll<Self::Output> {
+        self.project()
+            .inner
+            .poll(cx)
+            .map(IntoResponse::into_response)
+            .map(Ok)
+    }
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::*;
+    use axum::{body::Empty, routing::get, Router};
+    use http::{HeaderMap, StatusCode};
+    use tower::ServiceExt;
+
+    #[tokio::test]
+    async fn basic() {
+        async fn insert_header<B>(mut req: Request<B>, next: Next<B>) -> impl IntoResponse {
+            req.headers_mut()
+                .insert("x-axum-test", "ok".parse().unwrap());
+
+            next.run(req).await
+        }
+
+        async fn handle(headers: HeaderMap) -> String {
+            (&headers["x-axum-test"]).to_str().unwrap().to_owned()
+        }
+
+        let app = Router::new()
+            .route("/", get(handle))
+            .layer(from_fn(insert_header));
+
+        let res = app
+            .oneshot(
+                Request::builder()
+                    .uri("/")
+                    .body(body::boxed(Empty::new()))
+                    .unwrap(),
+            )
+            .await
+            .unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(res.status(), StatusCode::OK);
+        let body = hyper::body::to_bytes(res).await.unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(&body[..], b"ok");
+    }
+}
diff --git a/axum-extra/src/middleware/mod.rs b/axum-extra/src/middleware/mod.rs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..89420678
--- /dev/null
+++ b/axum-extra/src/middleware/mod.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+//! Additional types for creating middleware.
+
+pub mod middleware_fn;
+
+pub use self::middleware_fn::{from_fn, Next};
diff --git a/examples/print-request-response/Cargo.toml b/examples/print-request-response/Cargo.toml
index 69781c11..83c4b5b5 100644
--- a/examples/print-request-response/Cargo.toml
+++ b/examples/print-request-response/Cargo.toml
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ publish = false
 
 [dependencies]
 axum = { path = "../../axum" }
+axum-extra = { path = "../../axum-extra" }
 tokio = { version = "1.0", features = ["full"] }
 tracing = "0.1"
 tracing-subscriber = { version="0.3", features = ["env-filter"] }
diff --git a/examples/print-request-response/src/main.rs b/examples/print-request-response/src/main.rs
index 6ebf4f70..97ce4355 100644
--- a/examples/print-request-response/src/main.rs
+++ b/examples/print-request-response/src/main.rs
@@ -6,14 +6,13 @@
 
 use axum::{
     body::{Body, Bytes},
-    error_handling::HandleErrorLayer,
     http::{Request, StatusCode},
-    response::Response,
+    response::{IntoResponse, Response},
     routing::post,
     Router,
 };
+use axum_extra::middleware::{self, Next};
 use std::net::SocketAddr;
-use tower::{filter::AsyncFilterLayer, util::AndThenLayer, BoxError, ServiceBuilder};
 
 #[tokio::main]
 async fn main() {
@@ -28,17 +27,7 @@ async fn main() {
 
     let app = Router::new()
         .route("/", post(|| async move { "Hello from `POST /`" }))
-        .layer(
-            ServiceBuilder::new()
-                .layer(HandleErrorLayer::new(|error| async move {
-                    (
-                        StatusCode::INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR,
-                        format!("Unhandled internal error: {}", error),
-                    )
-                }))
-                .layer(AndThenLayer::new(map_response))
-                .layer(AsyncFilterLayer::new(map_request)),
-        );
+        .layer(middleware::from_fn(print_request_response));
 
     let addr = SocketAddr::from(([127, 0, 0, 1], 3000));
     tracing::debug!("listening on {}", addr);
@@ -48,28 +37,41 @@ async fn main() {
         .unwrap();
 }
 
-async fn map_request(req: Request<Body>) -> Result<Request<Body>, BoxError> {
+async fn print_request_response(
+    req: Request<Body>,
+    next: Next<Body>,
+) -> Result<impl IntoResponse, (StatusCode, String)> {
     let (parts, body) = req.into_parts();
     let bytes = buffer_and_print("request", body).await?;
     let req = Request::from_parts(parts, Body::from(bytes));
-    Ok(req)
-}
 
-async fn map_response(res: Response) -> Result<Response<Body>, BoxError> {
+    let res = next.run(req).await;
+
     let (parts, body) = res.into_parts();
     let bytes = buffer_and_print("response", body).await?;
     let res = Response::from_parts(parts, Body::from(bytes));
+
     Ok(res)
 }
 
-async fn buffer_and_print<B>(direction: &str, body: B) -> Result<Bytes, BoxError>
+async fn buffer_and_print<B>(direction: &str, body: B) -> Result<Bytes, (StatusCode, String)>
 where
     B: axum::body::HttpBody<Data = Bytes>,
-    B::Error: Into<BoxError>,
+    B::Error: std::fmt::Display,
 {
-    let bytes = hyper::body::to_bytes(body).await.map_err(Into::into)?;
+    let bytes = match hyper::body::to_bytes(body).await {
+        Ok(bytes) => bytes,
+        Err(err) => {
+            return Err((
+                StatusCode::BAD_REQUEST,
+                format!("failed to read {} body: {}", direction, err),
+            ));
+        }
+    };
+
     if let Ok(body) = std::str::from_utf8(&bytes) {
         tracing::debug!("{} body = {:?}", direction, body);
     }
+
     Ok(bytes)
 }